FIFA opens investigation on Neil Taylor leg-breaking tackle

FIFA has opened formal investigations against Welsh defender Neil Taylor after his brutal leg-breaking tackle on the Republic of Ireland’s Seamus Coleman.

The Football Association of Wales has been informed of FIFA opening proceedings against Taylor, with a hearing likely to be held within the next fortnight and the player’s ban may be increased to three games after FIFA examined the report of the match referee Nicola Rizzoli.

Coleman, 28, had to be taken off the pitch on a stretcher after the tackle, while Taylor was sent off, during Friday’s World Cup qualifier in Dublin.

Coleman was taken to hospital and required surgery on a double bone break.

Taylor, 28, will be suspended for Wales’s next qualifier in Serbia in June, but, depending on FIFA’s inquiry, could have his one-game ban extended to three.

Wales captain Ashley Williams, a teammate of Coleman’s at Everton F.C., said Taylor wanted to visit Coleman in hospital, and sent him a text message from the Aviva Stadium.

“Neil was gutted. He was sitting on the floor virtually in tears,” he told the Everton website. “Even people who don’t know Seamus like I do were gutted.”

“He asked me to check if it would be OK to go to see Seamus in hospital. He got his number off me and sent him a text straight away. When I found out it was a broken leg it made me feel sick inside because it’s someone who I like so much and is one of my mates.”